A drinking cup of the type to which the invention relates is described, for example, in the patent document U.S. Pat. No. 4,574,970.
More generally, numerous types of end fittings intended to facilitate beverage consumption are known, as evidenced in particular by the patent documents FR-2 222 976, CH-649 511, DE-U-299 17 965, DE-30 17 789, U.S. Pat. No. 3,085,710, FR-2 657 846, GB-505 207 and DE-26 41 874.
Two specific problems arise in the design of such end fittings when they are intended to allow one to taste sparkling wines or champagne directly from a container such as a bottle, that is to say, without the use of a glass.
The first problem relates to the regulation of the known phenomenon, in the case of champagne, of considerable foam formation produced by the more or less abrupt manipulation of the bottle.
In effect, after opening a bottle, the champagne contained therein, because of the decompression it undergoes, can spontaneously form more or less abundant foam, in particular in the event of impact, and can thus produce an overflow of the liquid out of the bottle.
It is therefore necessary to control this overflow in order to make possible consumption of the sparkling beverage, such as a spackling wine or champagne, directly from the container holding it, in particular a bottle, without risk to the consumer or to those around him of being sprayed with it.
The second problem relates to the quality of the taste of the beverage, and in particular of the champagne, in spite of the absence of a glass.
In effect, under conventional tasting conditions, not only does the act of pouring the champagne into a glass release a part of its gaseous charge, but also the glass offers the champagne contained in it an open and relatively large volume that fosters regulation of the loss of gas.
In the case in which champagne is drunk directly from the bottle, it is therefore also necessary to control the formation of foam, generated in particular by the inclination of the bottle, in order to allow its contents to be consumed under satisfactory conditions from the tasting standpoint.